Spring-hinge.



E. J. ROBERT$.

SPRING HINGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 28, 1914.

' Patented July 18, 1916.

'ELIJ'AH J. ROBERTS, OF BOTHELL, WASHIN'GTON.

SPRING-HINGE.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Application filed- November 28, 1914. Serial No. 874,512.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIJAH J. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bothell, in the county of King and State of lVashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-'Hinges, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to spring hinges.

The primary object of my invention re sides in the provision of a spring hingeparticularly applicable to silos for facilitating inward swinging of a door and embodies novel means for allowing the door to be swung inwardly and lie in juxtaposed rela- 5 tion with the inner side of the silo.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of a novel means for mounting a hinge on a silo and door therefor, the hinge being arranged exteriorly of the silo,

to prevent the same from becoming rusted, due to contact with the contents of the silo.

A still further object of my invention resides in the provision of a device of the character described that is simple in construction, cflicient in operation and one that can be manufactured and placed on the market at a minimum cost.

Other objects as well as the nature, charso acteristic features and scope of my invention will be more readily understood'from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and 'pointed out in the claim forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan View of my invention applied to a silo in section, and a door therefor, Fig. 2 is a side elevational VlBW of a silo and door, both be- 40 ing broken away, showing my invention applied thereto, Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of my invention applied to a silo and door, the dotted line showing a position assumed by the door when the same is being swung inwardly. Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of one of the sections of the hinge attachedto the door, Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the same looking in an opposite direction, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view partly in section,

showing'to advantage'the manner of connecting the rods.

Referring more particularly to' the draw ings, in which similar reference. numerals designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views, I provide a silo including a plurality of sections 1, the SllO having associated therewith a door 2, the latter being pivotally mounted 011 the silo to swing inwardly therein by means of my lmproved hinge.

The hinge in this instance consists essentially of a pair of cylindrical casings 3 and 4. The casing 3 has one end closed, the latter being provided with a central opening 5 .for a purpose to be hereinafter referred to.

The casing 8 being further provided adjacent the closed end with an elongated integrally formed projection or ear 6, which extends laterally from the exterior of the easing and at a substantially right angle to the longitudinal axis of the casing. The projection tapers toward its free end and is relatively flat in cross section. A plurality of openings 7 are provided in the projection, the openings receiving screws 8 or similar fastening devices which facilitate the securing of the projection to the silo on the outer side thereof.

Slidably mounted in theopening 5 in the closed end of the casing 3 is a rod 9, the rod being circular in cross section. The outer end of the rod is screw-threaded, as at 10,

to receive a disk 11, the latter having its outer periphery arranged in close relation with the inner periphery of the cylinder and serves to guide the rod when the same is being moved through the opening. Disposed about the rod and positioned within the casing 3, preparatory to the application of the disk to the rod, is a resilient element preferably a coil spring 12, the outer ends of which bear respectively against the closed end of the casing and the disk for a purpose to be hereinafter referred to. The protruding end of the rod is reduced and flattened andprovided with an opening 13, the latter receiving a screw bolt 14 which facilitates the pivotal connection between the bifurcated ends 14 ofa rod 15, when the bifurcated end is disposed about the side of the reduced end, as illustrated to advantage in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The rod 15 is similar in cross section to the rod 9 and is slidsides ofthe casing 4: and have their under -surfaces arranged in a plane tangential to the outer periphery of the casing, so that the casing may lie at all times in abutting relation with the door.

In order to hold the door 2 normally in a closed position there is disposed about the rod 15 within the cylinder 1,:1 suitable elastic element, preferably a coil spring 19, the respective ends of which bear against the closed end of the casing and against a disk 20, screw-threaded upon the free end of the rod 15. The disk 20 has its outer periphery arranged in close relation with the inner periphery of the casing 4 and serves a purpose similar to the disk 11.

The operation of my invention is as follows: It is assumed that the casings 3 and t have been attached to the silo 1 and door 2, respectively, in the manner hereinbefore described, and that'the closed end of the casings are arranged adjacent each other. N01 mally, the door is held in closed position due to the tension of the coil springs within the casings, the free ends of which bear against the inner ends of the casings and the disks. lVhen it is desired to swing the door inwardly, all that is necessary to do is to exert pressure on the exterior thereof which causes the rounded edge of the door to engage the inner wall of the silo, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3 of the drawings. During the first part of the movement, the rod 9 is drawn outwardly from the casing against the tension of its coil spring which is dis posed thereabout.

When the door is swung to a position approximately parallel with the casing 3, the rod will be prevented from moving due to the frictional engagement of the same with the opening, whereupon the door assumes a position which will allow the rod 15 to be drawn outwardly from the casing 4 against the tension of the coil spring 19. It is obvious that suitable fastening means may be provided on the interior of the silo, to hold the door in an open position. When the door is released, it automatically assumes a closed position, due to the tension of the coil compression springs.

Although I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, 1 de sire it to be understood that I am not to be limited to the exact details shown, however, I desire that great stress be laid upon the arrangement of the casings mounted on the exterior of the silo and the outer side of the door and arranged so that the door may be swung inwardly. Attention is also directed to the fact that the cause of this peculiar positioning of the hinge, rusting of the parts is prevented.

It will be noted that no specific statement has been made relative to the size and relation of one of the casings to the other. It is obvious that the same may be made of various sizes and proportions, in order to be operable when the same has been applied. It is essential, however, that the rod be of suflicient length to allow the door to be swung about its pivot, so that it may be arranged in juxtaposed relation with the inner wall of the silo.

From the above description taken in c011- nection with the accompanying drawings, it can easily be seen that I have provided a device that is simple in construction, contain ing but a few simple parts that can be cheaply manufactured and assembled and when assembled can be placed upon the market and sold at a minimum cost.

It will be understood that the above description and accompanying drawings comprehend only the general and preferred embodiment of my invention and that various minor changes in detail of construction, proportion and arrangement of the parts may be made within the scope of the appended claim and without sacrificing any of the ad vantages of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A spring hinge including in combination with a door frame, a door having a rounded edge, a pair of cylindrical casings, an ear projecting at right angles from one casing and securable to the side of the door frame to consequently dispose the casing at right angles to the frame, ears arranged tangentially to the other casing and extending in opposite directions and securable to one side of the door, the adjacent ends of each of the casings being closed and provided with openings, rods slidably mounted in the openings and having their free ends pivotally connected to each other, the ends of the rods disposed within the casing being screw threaded, coil springs disposed about said rods in the casing, disks mounted on the screw threaded ends of the rods and arranged in close relation with the inner walls of the casings for controlling the reception of the springs for guiding the rods during move ment, and the spring controlled rods permitting the rounded edge of the door to bear against the door frame to allow the door to swing away from the door frame and also permit the outer side of the door to lie in juxtaposed relation with the door frame and to incidentally automatically close the door after the door has been opened.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELIJAH J. ROBERTS. Witnesses G110. M. BEARD, J. C. GREGORY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

